Team Activity

Unfortunately, there is really no activity in this team. There are some of us in the other team that are stepparents without biological children, so I think you would fit in just fine in the other group that has a *little* more activity. If you feel this is the best team, you are certainly welcome to use it. Even though I am not on Spark much anymore, I get notifications when posts are made on the message board, so I will always log in to respond, but unfortunately, that's about the extent of the activity in here.

Hi all! I too was excited to see this page. I am an instant mom who constantly has the lines of parenthood blurred. I do have a wonderful and supportive fiancÚ, the poor baby is the one who is having a hard time going back and forth. I was in the son's place when I was little so I know how tumultuous it can be. But, as the parent in this situation I am COMPLETELY lost!

I did see the other teams but thought this may be a better fit for me because I don't have kids of my own.

Please, reply to me or send me an email. I would LOVE to get together and rant or rave.

Unfortunately, all the previously active members have disappeared. I am still "here", although I am not on Spark very much. There is another team I can recommend that has a bit more activity. I sent an invitation to you, but in case you don't get that, it is called Blended Families/Stepchildren: Mine, Yours, Ours.

Working from home has advantages and disadvantages. I don't have to buy work clothes or fix myself up every day. I have the easiest commute ever and spend very little on gas, and I can flex my schedule around appointments. Disadvantages: I'm always at work. I can't justify sick time when I can work on my laptop from bed. Harder to set boundaries around work times. Can be asked to work extra without it being seen as an inconvenience (by the person requesting, not me).

I do track my food everyday and one of my goals is to enter my food the night before to ensure that I meet all of the nutritional goals I've set for myself. This I find really helps me with planning. The problem is - and no surprize to me at all - that in the first couple of weeks with getting back to health i fool myself into thinking that oh one bite won't hurt anything. The reality is that it does add up and you can lie to yourself but your body isn't persuaded by inner chatter that justifies the cookie. I might just be a slow learner lol and now I've proved it to myself once again that eating things outside of the plan result in excess calories and weight gain. I haven't completed blown my progress but pretty close so I will have to remind myself that if it's not in the plan it's not a part of my day.

I do not miss snow days! I used to live in the Great Lakes area, but now I'm in Georgia. Been south so long that I can't handle the colder winters anymore! Although, we did get enough snow and ice last year to shut down the schools for several days. Of course, that is NOTHING like the snow and ice I saw growing up, but down here, they are not equipped to deal with it - don't have the salt, snow plows, snow tires, or driving skills!

It is hard not to snack when you're trapped inside somewhat unexpectedly. I work from home, so I know that struggle all too well. Are you tracking your food? Honestly, I HATE tracking my food, but it's such an eye opener for me. Sometimes I think I'm doing okay with my snacking, but then I add it all to my tracker and realize I only have about 100 calories left and I haven't even had dinner yet! It all adds up pretty quick.

Exactly, it doesn't really matter what time of day as long as you do it. I am really really not a morning person either, I just can't see myself doing it after work because by the time I get home it's 5:30 or 6pm and then I need to cook supper so with a full belly, that's not the time that I am thinking about excersise.

I was hoping to start one of the video's today but my daughter had a friend over tonight and they sort of had the run of the rec room so maybe tomorrow.

Today was a really tough day for snacking. It was a snow day and travel wasn't recommended on the highways. The buses were cancelled and my daughter and I were at home for the day. I was still working at home but with access to the kitchen all day I found it tough not to think about snacking. I did not too badly even though I ate more that I should have but tomorrow is a new day.

Sounds great! I hope you like 30-Day Shred. It should do the trick! I love yoga. I think I'm going to integrate it into my routine somewhere again. The last workout program I did (P90X) integrated yoga once per week. The one I'm doing now does not. Maybe I'll do it on my "rest" day. I wish I could workout in the morning, but I am NOT a morning person. Whenever I've tried, I've only been able to give about 50% effort. It's a great way to make sure your workout gets done without the rest of the day interfering. That's a struggle I've had this week - the rest of life is trying to interfere. I typically like to do my workouts right after work, around 4:30 or 5:00, but the past couple days, it's been more like 8:30. I don't like working out that late, but better late than never, right?

Yesterday I ordered Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and it should be in early this week. In the mean time I picked up a yoga for beginners dvd so I am excited to try it this weekend. If I can work a workout into my morning routine that would be ideal.

today was a really tough day for me with trying to stop snacking. I worked late again today and I wasn`t as prepared as yesterday because it wasn't planned. I had a Larabar and a serving of rice pudding and that wouldn't have been so bad except instead of having a 1/2 serving of supper when I got home I had a whole serving. I am 9 pounds away from my goal weight and tomorrow I'm sure it will be 10lbs away. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day.

You hit the nail on the head! While I've done a lot of good workouts, not many made me WANT to keep going. It was a task I had to do, rather than being something I enjoyed. When I finally found a workout that felt fun to me, it made the commitment so much easier. I needed to enjoy it. Some people, they need to feel accountability to a trainer, or feel a financial commitment. It's all about what'll work for you and keep you coming back for more!

10 minutes sounds like something I can commit to lol. I will check these out when I get some time this week and I`ll let you know what I end up picking. If I need help I`ll let you know and thank you for the suggestions.

Today was tough because I worked a long day and I always find it hard to stay on track when I am late getting home for supper. I saved the apple from my lunch for the way home so that I wasn`t tempted to stop for something on the way home and my sweet husband had a plate ready and warm for me when I walked in the door. I was very hungry and happy to have dinner waiting and my daughter made me a salad for my dinner.

I found out the the fitness class at work is actually where a personal trainer works with you one time a week and then you work on your own two more times in the week so I am going to join if there is still room and if not I will sign up for the next round if there is one.

I read Jillian Michaels book - Master your Metabolism and it really made me think of food in a completely different way. I would like to check out one of her workout videos too. I guess it`s just a matter of trying different things until you find one that fits.

I know a lot of people who LOVE Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. I've used it, and it's a good workout! You can usually find the DVDs fairly inexpensively as well. I've also used The Abs Diet for Women. There's a whole book and nutrition plan, which I tried following once, but just the workout DVD is good. As far as Beachbody workouts, I love several of those. My favorite, and one of the least expensive, is Rockin' Body. It's a set of 5 (I think) workouts, and the trainer is Shaun T, the same guy who does the Insanity program. I like it because I didn't feel like I was working out, but I sure did sweat a lot, and it helped me make exercise a part of my routine. For someone in a time-crunch, I'd recommend 10-Minute Trainer. Yep, 10 minutes. That one is very similar to P90X with focus on cardio and strength, and if you have more time, you can string more than one workout together to make it a longer workout. 10-Minute Trainer is creeping up into the more expensive area, so that would just depend on your budget. There are a few ideas. If you need help tracking down information on any of those, let me know and I can send you some links.

I think that's what I need to focus on - what can I fit into my life instead of how to mold my life around an excersise class, at least for now. I do have some space in my basement for workout but not a lot of space. What would you suggest for a workout video for a beginner. I am not heavily overweight but I need to lose another 10 lbs and build some muscle. Let me know if you have any suggestions. I was looking at amazon.ca yesterday and there are over 3000 videos you can buy so it was a bit overwhelming and I didn't end up picking anything.

Congratulations on being smoke-free! I've never been a smoker myself so I don't know first hand how hard it is, but I have many friends and family members who have attempted (and gotten through) the process of quitting. I wish you the best!

That is great that you have a "fit zone" accessible to you at work. I hope you find a way to take advantage of it. I have heard wonderful things about Zumba. I have an old set of VHS tapes (yep, that old!) from when it first came out in the 90's. I remember thinking it was fun, but made me feel horribly uncoordinated. I hear that in a class setting, that's part of what's fun - everyone stumbling around trying to figure out the steps.

I do a lot of workout DVDs, especially Beachbody programs (the makers of P90X and Insanity). I'm a Beachbody coach, so I get a discount on their programs and I love them. My husband is a certified fitness trainer, so he's designed various workouts for me too. Basically, I'll do anything I can do from the convenience of my own home, whenever I can squeeze it in!

I am sorry to hear that you have a cold TL, It's hard to stick to health goals when you're not feeling your best.

When I was taking care of myself I enjoyed getting out walking and I started to to the Couch to 5K program for running but as I was a smoker it was really hard to be motivated enough to get out and excersise (I have been smoke free for 5 days now including today as part of my new years resolution)I have a treadmill and I tried to to that in the winter. I live in Manitoba Canada so winters are hard. I have a full time job and part time job of admin for my husbands business so it's hard to find the time that I need to take care of myself.

My workplace has recently built a fit zone so it has excersise equipment and weights etc. They charge a one time fee of 40.00 to be a member for as long as I work there so i joined a while ago but I haven't taken advantage of it. They have a personal trainer that is going to be there 3 times per week starting mid January so I am considering joining that with others at work. I have heard that zumba is really fun I am just worried that I wouldn't be able to handle the cardio but I guess I won't know until I try.

I go through the same thing sometimes - just the munchies! Not hungry, know I don't need anything, but I just want to munch. Again, that's where the healthy snacks help. The other thing that has helped me is that we have a rule that food cannot leave the kitchen/dining area. Now, the area off our kitchen where the kitchen table is (and where we eat our meals) is an open room that spills into the living room, where the tv is. So I could sit there and eat, but you're right, it's not so much fun when everyone else is on the comfy sofa! So that's helped me a lot.

Our boys have been gone all weekend. They spent the night at a friend's Friday night, and then asked if they could stay again last night. So it's been QUIET around here. Good timing for me - I'm down with a cold, so the slower, quieter pace has been good for me. I need to hit the ground running tomorrow! I'm starting a new workout program and I'm going to attempt to follow the nutritional guidelines that go with it to maximize results. Being able to breathe through my nose and not feel like a zombie (ha ha) would be helpful! What kinds of exercise do you enjoy?

I completely understand the portion size thing with the almonds - definately one of my favorite snacks.

Tonight my husband and I had a family movie night with my teen daughter and we watched "Zombieland" (not my turn to pick lol). It was dumb but funny so all in all we had a good night with popcorn too but I didn't put butter on mine and I didn't really miss it that much. Well okay maybe a little but not enough to spend calories on so it was a good healthy snack.

I need to work on not eating in front of the TV. I find that every time I sit down to watch TV I want to eat whether I'm hungry or not. Someone told me once to only eat sitting down at the table in the kitchen and I think that's a really good habit to be in but it seems a little lonely when you are eating alone which happens occassionally.

Having healthy, ready-to-eat snacks on hand is critical for me too! It's way to easy to eat some pre-packaged snack (loaded with sodium or sugar or high-cal/low-nutrient) rather than preparing something when I realize I'm hungry. I also try to keep raw veggies cleaned and ready to be eaten, or fresh fruit. Almonds or cashews are good for me too, but I have to work on my portion size with those!

one of the things that I did the first time I lost the weight that I needed to was to always have a veggie tray prepared in the fridge because after work before I have supper ready is the hardest time for me. My daughter is home tonight from her mom`s and we had a nice dinner together. She has a friend over now and they are giggling in her room about something lol.

Perfect time to focus on you and make some changes. Not bringing junk food home from the store is key for me! If it's in the house, I'll be tempted and will usually give in to eating it. BUT... if it's not here, I can't eat it! Just eliminate as many temptations as possible until the willpower kicks in!

My daughter is at her bio mom's for 3 days so this will give me a bit of time to get organized. I have made a menu plan for the next week and I have my grocery list ready to go. All and all feeling good about changing some things in the house - junk food will no longer be on the list.

Hello I am new and my name is Tara. I introduced myself in that forum but I thought I'd do it here as well. I have been a stepmom officially for 8 1/2 years. my step daughter who lives with my husband and I has come to live with us one year ago this January and it has been a real struggle. I was doing well with my personal goals and then boom, life changes but in a good way. We have moved, she started a new school and I am a working mom with a full time job and I help my husband run his business in my "spare" time. I think I am finally finding a balance where I am ready to get back to working on my health goals. It's not going to be easy but I am excited to start again.

As team leader, I get a notification whenever we have a new member. We have some new members, and I'm sad to say, we've become a very inactive group. I accept responsibility for this, as a team leader. I'm going to try to make an effort to get some activity going here again, and I'm open to suggestions/feedback from other members. What is everyone needing at this point? What might be helpful? Challenges? Daily/weekly conversation topics? Let me know!

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